McDowell County among areas pushing state to fund water upgrades

State lawmakers pressed West Virginia to spend part of its reported $370 million surplus on drinking-water fixes, but Patrick Morrisey did not say how much, if any, would reach McDowell County systems. The debate, renewed July 8, left residents with the same question that has followed them for years: whether the state will turn broad promises into funded projects.

McDowell was among the southern counties named again as still struggling with unsafe and unreliable water. Residents in McDowell and neighboring Wyoming County have continued to complain about water that smells bad, comes out discolored, and stains sinks, tubs and laundry. The complaints are not new. In March, Senate Concurrent Resolution 7 called for a legislative study of the ongoing crisis in southern West Virginia, with particular attention to McDowell and Wyoming counties, and said the state should modernize treatment facilities, transmission lines and monitoring systems.

Delegate Eric Brooks used the July 8 discussion to push for action that would show up in homes and businesses, not just in budget talk. Morrisey has said he wants to use portions of the surplus for initiatives including the Hope Scholarship, law enforcement, roads and other priorities, but he has not identified a specific water allocation for McDowell County or any other utility system. That leaves local officials and residents with no timeline and no dollar figure for the upgrades they have been waiting on.

The pressure comes against a long record of deferred work. Appalachian Voices reported in 2024 that McDowell’s drinking-water problems were decades old and that the Kimball Water Plant was in dilapidated condition. Mountain State Spotlight reported in March that clean water had been a top issue in McDowell County during the 2024 election and remained unresolved two years later. Residents described foul-smelling, discolored water that could turn household fixtures and clothes red or orange, while some turned to roadside springs even though those sources may also be unsafe.

Some funding has reached the region. On Feb. 13, Morrisey announced $9.5 million in Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization grants for five water and sewer projects in McDowell and Mingo counties. Congresswoman Carol Miller’s office also said she requested $750,000 in fiscal 2026 to remove a combined sewer overflow in Welch, a project serving 868 residential and commercial customers. But that level of money is far below the scale of the need lawmakers have now put back on the table, and McDowell still does not know whether the state surplus will translate into a pipe replacement, a treatment upgrade or another round of unanswered requests.